|
|
 |
The Humber Mouth Previews |
|
|
|
|
Bob Dylan & The Poetry Of The Blues.
By Lee Cassanell
|
Michael Gray: Bob Dylan & the poetry of the Blues
Thursday 13th November 8pm - £8/£6
Hull Truck Theatre, Spring Street, Hull
Box office 01482 323638.
|
Though you are poor (in spirit or wisdom), do not say:
" I am penniless, so I cannot seek out knowledge"
Instead, bend your back to all discipline,
Purify your heart through all wisdom
And in the abundance of your intellectual potential,
Investigate the mystery of existence.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls
|
|
I was at the pub last night with a few members of the Renegade Writers and various other fiends and lushes. After six beers, five gins, and a solitary tequila slammer, I was invited back to a soiree at a friend's house, for an evening of conversation, vodka, and loud music. Sometime during this boozy affair our host inevitably put on Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan (a wise choice) and those of us conscious enough to move their lips engaged in a good old-fashioned sing-song.
|
|
We slurred through "Tombstone Blues", mumbled along to "Ballad Of A Thin Man" and shouted out "...Rolling Stone" like a bunch of pissed Town Criers at a Christmas Party.
In fact we sang Dylan so much that we started to sing other songs in his vocal style: Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", Melanie's "Brand New Key". We sat there like a bunch of bad Dylan impersonators, belting out tunes in his own nasal none-singing way.
|
|
Two hours later the entire history of music had been covered. We'd done Bob Dylan versions of Spice Girls' tunes, Wham, Madonna, The Jackson 5, The Prodigy. I'd been in hysterics for so long my that my jaw was aching. During our Dylanesque version of Technotronic's "Pump up the Jam" I honestly thought I was going to die laughing.
|
It was a good night - Hell, it was a great night - and although our Dylan mimicry was nothing more than a drunken parlour game, it wouldn't have worked if we had been impersonating John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder or any of the other greats of the music world. It's something about Dylan's voice, the distinctiveness of his singing style that makes it so easy to parody.
I could go on all night and talk about the Majesty of Bob, but for all the plaudits I could shower him with, I think this best describes his significance:
He's the beat of your Heart, the voice of your soul, and the soundtrack of your life.
He is..universal.
|
On Saturday morning I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Gray, one of the world's leading Bob Dylan experts. It was quite an exciting moment for me, being a Dylan fan and all, and I suppose if I'd not had the Mother Of All Hangovers due to the previous evening's merriment, I would have been more nervous than I was.
What immediately struck me about Michael Gray was his voice. Well-spoken and obviously well-educated, with just the hint of a faded accent, he has the kind of voice that immediately puts you at ease and whispers of last night's wine and cigarettes.
|
|
|
Way back in 1972, he was one of the first writers to do an in depth study of Bob Dylan and his music. The first edition of his magnum opus Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan during the time that Dylan was being regarded by many as a fading 60's icon whose best years were behind him. He hadn't produced an album since 1970 and his last efforts, Self Portrait and New Morning, had not been very well received (Rolling Stone critic Greil Marcus famously remarked in the opening line to his review of Self Portrait, "What is this shit?"), so Gray was "Not sure if there was a market" for a book examining the Bobster.
|
|
Thirty-one years and nearly Half a Million words later however, he has produced one of the definitive examinations of Dylan and his lyrics. Book critics have called " Song and Dance man", " A magisterial Study", " magnificent" and "endlessly illuminating", and poet laureate Andrew Motion selected the updated version as one of his top three books of 2000.
I was interested to know what drove Gray to write such an exhaustive study. I'd assumed before I spoke to him that he was an obsessive; a music anorak of biblical proportions. After speaking to the man however, I realise that he's just an ordinary guy who thought Bob was an important and interesting character who deserved to be written about.
|
"I have many other interests outside of Dylan, as well as a wife and family. When I wrote the first edition I never dreamt I'd still be writing about him all these years later."
We talked about the meanings behind the songs, and the influence drugs had on Dylan's work, which Gray described beautifully as "aides to openness". We even touched on his childhood on Merseyside during the rise of the Beat clubs, and his early fondness for Elvis and Little Richard.
I liked the man. He was the kind of guy you could chat with for hours over a couple of shandys and an ashtray, and the longer we conversed the more I thought about how both his and Dylan's fates are entwined - for in the decades and centuries to come, when our kids and great-grandkids want to read about the great Bob Dylan, this legend who passed on long ago, there will be no better place to start than Michael Gray's book.
For he, like the great man himself.. is part of history..
Michael Gray will be presenting 'Bob Dylan & The Poetry Of The Blues' at Hull Truck Theatre on Thursday 13th November - for more info call the Box Office on 01482 323638.
|
|
People - The Humber Mouth By Maggie Hannan
|
|
When the first literature festival in Hull happened, organised by David Porter and John Osborne, I'd only been living in the city for about eighteen months, having arrived in a van with a dog, looking for somewhere to stay. I'd heard about the poetry readings which had been taking place in the city - the famous Bête Noire readings - and which were reported to be drawing the largest audiences for poetry outside of London.
Read more...
|
|
|
Previews - Three Come at Once, Just like Buses...
|
|
By Maggie Hannan
Hull in Fiction: Christopher Peachment & Will Davenport
Following on from the Crap Towns debacle, my interest was caught by the fact that no fewer than three novelists have set novels in Hull in the past eighteen months. Just like buses, you wait for ages and then three come along at once.
Read more...
|
|
|
Previews - Wild Boys and Wild Ways: Jill Dawson
|
|
By Maggie Hannan
The MMR vaccination controversy ensures that few people are unfamiliar with the plight of those affected by autism and their search for answers. Jill Dawson, who visits the Humber Mouth this Saturday, knows better than most about the challenges involved. As the mother of a son diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, she was inspired to write her latest novel Wild Boy after reading an account of a 'feral child' in Uta Frith's Autism: Explaining the Enigma.
Read more...
|
|
|
Poetry - A Spare Five Minutes
|
|
By Rich Mills
With a spare five minutes
I scribble these ramblings down.
Between herding the kids
And taking over the world.
I find a spare five minutes
It was just lying here on the ground.
Read more...
|
|
|
Poetry - Mirror
|
|
By Darren Sant
I tell only the truth hturt eht ylno llet I
A tale of lost youth htuoy tsol fo elat A
Endless tale of sadness ssnedas fo elat sseldnE
Endless tale of woe eow fo elat sseldnE
Where does our beauty go? ?og ytuaeb ruo seod erehW
Read more...
|
|
|
Interviews - Who Are the Renegade Writers?
|
|
Lee explains "The group is based on honesty, openness, a place where expression is not limited by shame, but encouraged, without boundaries."
"Sex, drugs, rock and Roll, it's about expressing life's energy!" Nick continues.
Read more...
|
|
|
Poetry - For those who lay dying.
|
|
by Lee Cassanell
Sign me up
I'm off to war
I want to kill and fight
Please drop me on that desert floor
Let me join the side of right
Read more...
|
|
|
Articles - Our Telephone Pole By Mo
|
|
Poking my head out of the window I asked "Can I take some pictures for the website?". "No problem came the reply" from Alan the team leader looking up from the base of the pole. Another story lands in my lap I thought, as I unloaded the battery charger and slipped the first rechargeable into our 150 quid Minolta digital camera.
Read more...
|
|
|
Aircraft and Airshows - Concorde by Tony
|
|
On Friday 24th October 2003 the last fight of Concorde by British Airways as a fare paying passenger aircraft took place.
If you have flown on Concorde or have seen it in flight, you can understand what a great loss this will be to the nation. The aircraft, first airborne in 1969, was and is still out in front in design and technical innovation.
Read more...
|
|
|
|
| What's Happening? |
|
|
|
|
| Chill Out |
|
|
|
|
| About Us |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top of Page.
